


Open

by celeste9



Category: Primeval
Genre: Age Difference, Character Study, F/M, Older Man/Younger Woman, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-23
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-02-10 03:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2008647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When James extended an offer to Jess Parker, he wasn’t certain which of them was more surprised.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Open

**Author's Note:**

> For 'heart on sleeve' on my Primeval bingo card.

James knew he wasn’t an easy man to care for. He knew that his marriage had fallen apart in large part because of his own failings as a husband. He knew what his strengths were, but he knew what his weaknesses were, too.

When the ARC was shut down, it was as though a spotlight was shining on all of those weaknesses. His failures as a leader and his inadequacies when it came to managing people. He had been unable to control Christine Johnson and he had let Helen Cutter run roughshod over the entire project, killing Nick Cutter and using them to reach her own ends.

Becker blamed himself for what had happened, for Sarah’s death and for the disappearance of Danny, Connor, and Abby, but James knew where the blame truly fell.

When he returned in disgrace to the Home Office, amidst the tittering and the unkind gossiping, he felt it was only what he deserved. Perhaps it could help him to atone for his mistakes, though he knew he could never come close to making up for them.

But as he had tried to make clear, the anomalies continued to be a problem, and so the ARC was reopened. James Lester was back in charge.

Philip Burton, then, was most definitely a kind of punishment.

When it came time to hire new staff, finding the right person to fill the field coordinator position was easily the most critical. With Burton’s resources, there was no longer any need to cut corners. Having a field coordinator would save lives. They needed someone with experience, someone who wouldn’t panic and who would take charge, who could juggle everything the ARC threw at them.

When James extended an offer to Jess Parker, he wasn’t certain which of them was more surprised.

Jess Parker was young. She was inexperienced. She gave off an aura of flightiness and she had no idea how to properly dress for the workplace.

But Jess Parker was confident, smart, capable, and quick-thinking. She was cheerful and compassionate and she was exactly the person James wanted looking out for his team, even if he didn’t know that he could explain why. It was a gut feeling, and James had learned to trust his gut.

In the months after the ARC reopened, James had cause to doubt his decision. Jess was a trial, to be quite frank. She had a distinct lack of appreciation for James’ superior position and a faintly tactless, disrespectful way of talking to him. It was as if she didn’t care who he was - or that he signed her paycheques.

And yet... James never considered letting her go, or even addressing the issue. She was as good at her job as she had claimed to be, which was the most important thing, but beyond that... He _liked_ Jess, and wasn’t that a surprise? The truth was, she was a lone bright spot in the stretch of darkness his life often felt like. She nagged him about working long hours and not eating properly and so on, but though he protested he honestly didn’t mind. She smiled a lot and she had the loveliest blue eyes.

Jess was young and sweet and it wouldn’t do to dwell on anything inappropriate. James watched her blush at Becker and thought that that was right, she should be with someone handsome and heroic like Becker. She should be with someone who wasn’t old enough to be her father.

It was hard to remember that, though, when she came in to his office when they were both working late, offering to share Chinese, or when she brought him a coffee without being asked because she’d just been able to sense it was one of those mornings. It was hard to remember when she smiled at him, or when she straightened his tie before he rushed out for a meeting, or when she sat back in slightly smug satisfaction after having properly guided the field team through a successful incursion.

“Thought I was going to run out of chocolate before the end of that one,” she said once, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh, dear, we can’t have that,” James replied, and he slipped a chocolate bar out of his pocket to place on Jess’ desk.

She laughed. “You just happened to have that on you?”

“I like to be prepared for all eventualities,” he said in explanation, because it was easier than saying he liked to make Jess happy.

“Oh, well, if you insist! I think I deserve a reward.” This chocolate Jess savoured, letting each piece melt on her tongue, and James walked away, pretending it was nothing to him.

Jess wasn’t afraid to be open, to show her feelings honestly. When she was upset the entire ARC seemed to droop with her, and when she was happy she could make even the stiffly serious Captain Becker smile.

James thought he owed it to her to do the same. It wasn’t right to continue hiding, to act like everything was the same when it wasn’t, when he wanted to be something for her that she probably had never even given a passing thought to.

It was difficult to take a step into the unknown when there was every possibility you might fail. It was difficult to interrupt the status quo, to stop being comfortable when it might mean you will lose everything.

Then again, the worst sort of regret came from the steps you wish you had taken but never did.

It was an ordinary day when James Lester decided to take that step, to put his heart in the open as Jess did every day, to leave himself open for rejection and disappointment.

Jess was wearing strappy heels and a red dress, with her hair free around her shoulders. She looked beautiful, but then, she always did. “Something for me?” she asked him.

“Ah, no,” James said, folding his hands behind his back. “Only a question. I realise that this will put you in an awkward position, and I hope that you know I would never hold your answer against you. You can refuse and it won’t change anything, I wouldn’t--”

“Lester,” Jess interrupted. “Perhaps you should just ask whatever it is you want to ask me.”

She knew, she must. She knew what he was going to ask and James was having horrific flashbacks to his adolescence. He told himself to stop being such a bloody coward.

“Jess, I would like very much if you would let me take you out to dinner. If it would please you.” God, he was a fool.

When Jess smiled at him and touched his hand, James felt his heart drop until he felt sick. She was going to be kind, she was going to let him down gently, she was going to -

But what she said was, “Yes, I’d like that,” and she slipped her hand in his.

**_End_ **


End file.
